Hill digs in on Petraeus scandal

The David Petraeus sex scandal now heads behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, where the top lawmakers from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hope to hear new details Wednesday from top CIA and FBI officials about who knew what and when they knew it, sources tell POLITICO.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, plan to press CIA Acting Director Mike Morell and FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce on the timeline of the FBI’s investigation into Petraeus’s extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell and how the bureau conducted the probe, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

But the real fireworks may begin at Thursday’s closed hearings before the full House and Senate Intelligence committees, where Obama administration officials are expected to face the toughest grilling yet on the Petraeus scandal, which has dominated the news since Friday, when Petraeus admitted to an extramarital affair and resigned as CIA director.

These House and Senate hearings were originally scheduled to review the handling of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that led to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But with the Petraeus scandal exploding into public view, those hearings are likely to veer into what happened, when and why.

Some lawmakers are upset that they were left out of the loop as the FBI started over the summer to look into Petraeus’s relationship with Broadwell and allegations that he leaked classified information to her. FBI investigators determined the latter was not the case, but the probe eventually led to Petraeus’s downfall. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told MSNBC that President Barack Obama “absolutely” should have been informed more quickly about the FBI investigation and what it might mean for Petraeus and the CIA.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper — who was Petraeus’s superior in the U.S. intelligence hierachy — did not learn about the FBI’s investigation into Petraeus or his relationship with Broadwell until Election Day, Nov. 6, although an FBI criminal probe had been unfolding for months.

And Obama was not informed until Nov. 8, when Petraeus first offered his resignation to the president at a private White House meeting. Neither the House or Senate Intelligence committees was given much advance warning of the stunning announcement.

The split between those in Congress who want to know everything that went on during the Petraeus investigation and those who want to move on points to a divide on Capitol Hill over the potential fallout from the scandal.